Artist Statement

Larry Jens Anderson

I was a boy predator.  I did not know it.  Nothing came of it, but I was.  My prepubescent childhood was during the 1950s in a small Kansas town, population 250.  We had no television and still had crank telephones.  Homosexual, queer, faggot, and gay were nonexistent terms and their meanings had absolutely nothing to do with our small town culture.  Everyone knew I was a “sissy” because I played with girl toys and hated to play baseball.  But I was a nice boy, actually one of a set, a twin.  The Only Dick series of drawings and paintings look back at my prepubescent years, assessing the ignorance and recognizing the innocent indulgence of sexual desire.  I chose the “Dick” character from Dick and Jane as an icon of the perfect little boy.  My Dick is about being male, masculine, a sissy, an outsider, and a freak.  Someone who feels like a solo audience watching life as a play; there, but not part of the reality everyone else seems to be living.
Larry Jens Anderson

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